![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Ipad_and_stats-300x200.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Data has power.<\/p>\n
But it won\u2019t impress people by itself. You need a compelling narrative to engage your audience, with data supporting your key points along the way.<\/p>\n
Some people think a presentation is about sharing numbers, facts, and information. This is simply untrue. You need to tell people what those numbers\u00a0mean<\/em>\u00a0in the context of a larger story so that they truly understand them and can take the right action.<\/p>\n The world we live in has people obsessed with looking professional and therefore leading with data. They have forgotten the way human beings evolved to hear and listen to information.<\/p>\n You need to speak to people in a way that first appeals to their instinctual and emotional sides,\u00a0before<\/span>\u00a0speaking to their logical mind.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And that means telling a story.<\/p>\n Here are a few of the best ways to present your data in clear, compelling stories.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a well-known phrase that says, \u201cIf 1000 people die, it\u2019s a statistic. If one person dies, it\u2019s a tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n What that means is people are overwhelmed by large numbers and cannot clearly comprehend what they mean. But if they only have one person \u2014 or one story \u2014 to focus on, they\u2019re much more likely to engage with what they\u2019re hearing.<\/p>\n And so we have to consider: How will your data impact one human being? How will this issue apply to their life? By answering these questions we can gain personal understanding of the numbers.<\/p>\n To give you an example, I often coach speakers who feel nervous that their content isn\u2019t going to have an impact. I remember one client in particular, who was speaking about health and safety. I asked him how he felt about his content, and he said, \u201cI hate doing this. Nobody ever listens to me.\u201d<\/p>\n I suggested he try telling a story about his data to see if it engaged the audience better.<\/p>\n When it came time for his presentation, he got on stage and, instead of laying out statistics and graphs, he told a story about one of his best friends.<\/p>\n He talked about how he and Jonathan started at the company on the same day and progressed together through their careers. The speaker was Jonathan\u2019s best man at his wedding and the godfather to his daughter.<\/p>\n \u201cOne day a couple of years ago,\u201d he recounted, \u201cJonathan came in, walked past the safety goggles, and chose not to put them on that day. He was pouring chemicals into the container, like so many of us do every day, and there was an explosion. From that day forward he\u2019s been blind.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019ll never see his daughter grow up,\u201d the speaker continued. \u201cAnd so I want you to think about this the next time you see the health and safety goggles. Don\u2019t think about me, or my numbers, or my data. Think about Jonathan. Think about\u00a0your<\/em>\u00a0life,\u00a0your<\/em>\u00a0future, and what it would mean for\u00a0you<\/em>\u00a0if there\u2019s an accident.\u201d<\/p>\n When we touched base a year later, he said that his presentation had gone from being a dull talk that people didn\u2019t remember, to suddenly\u00a0everybody<\/em>caring about health and safety.<\/p>\n All because he took data and turned it into a story.<\/p>\n People can\u2019t get their head around numbers.<\/p>\n If you mention \u201c50,000,\u201d most people don’t know how to visualize what you\u2019re talking about. It\u00a0sounds\u00a0<\/em>like a big number.<\/p>\n Now imagine you describe this number in terms of investments. If you\u2019re trying to upgrade your website, and you say: \u201cLast week, 50,000 people came to our website, but the website\u2019s not very good, so we must get new investment to improve it.\u201d Your audience might not feel motivated.<\/p>\n However, if you tell a story that frames the data, you\u2019re going to have more ears willing to listen.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n You can frame \u201c50,000\u201d with commonly shared experiences. Bring up the Super Bowl, Madison Square Garden, or Wembley Stadium. Ask if anyone in your audience remembers the roar of the crowd, the rush of bodies trying to swarm in and out of the building, and how it took hours to leave because of the sheer mass of people. Perhaps they can remember how amazing, or how terrible, a certain performer was on stage.<\/p>\n Then give them the context of that number. You can say: \u201cThat crushing number of people is the same number of people who are looking at our website week after week.\u00a0We\u2019re<\/em>\u00a0the focal point.\u00a0We\u2019re<\/em>\u00a0the rockstar.\u00a0We\u2019re\u00a0<\/em>the team that they\u2019ve come to see play. And we\u2019re not doing a good job of it when we go on stage. So we have to make sure we get the investment behind our website so that we shine in front of that audience.\u201d<\/p>\n By giving people a tangible image to hold in their minds, they\u2019ll better understand the importance of your argument.<\/p>\n Instead of a bunch of numbers on a screen, they\u2019ll have a vivid, sensory experience behind what you\u2019re saying.<\/p>\n Ed Cray, a professor of journalism, has some crucial advice around headlines.<\/p>\n He says once you\u2019ve gathered all of your facts, data, and evidence, you need to decide what to keep and what to throw away. You decide this by writing your headline. And once you have your headline down, you strip out everything from your presentation that doesn\u2019t support it.<\/p>\n Because if it has nothing to do with the headline, it won\u2019t help you tell the story.<\/p>\n For example, let\u2019s look back at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. A former gold medal-winning rower was speaking about training with his team for this event. They had one headline message that kept them focused through four years of training.<\/p>\n \u201cWill it make the boat go faster?\u201d<\/p>\n If anyone was having a conversation or an argument that didn\u2019t focus on making the boat go faster, they\u2019d drop it and move on to something else. The rower said it kept them deadly focused for years, which is exactly what they needed to take home gold.<\/p>\n You must do the same with your data. Get all of the data. Figure out what story the data is telling you. Decide your headline, then use data that highlights the key points, with personal and tangible examples.<\/p>\n Data, case studies, and evidence are critical because they prove that your suggestions and ideas are valid. You\u2019re effectively showing that your ideas about the past and your beliefs about the future are based on solid proof.<\/p>\n And there are few things more powerful than a guaranteed future.<\/p>\n1. ANCHOR THE DATA IN SOMETHING PERSONAL.<\/h3>\n
2. MAKE YOUR FACTS, DATA, AND LISTS TANGIBLE.<\/h3>\n
3. INTEGRATE YOUR FINDINGS IN THE HEADLINE.<\/h3>\n